'Splosion Man 'splodes to top of XBLA sales chart

'Spolsion Man, one or our absolute favorites of 2009, enjoyed a surprise sales surge last week, rocketing to the top of the Xbox Live Arcade bestseller list. That's the power of Black Friday and a one-day, 75-percent discount.

In fact, thirteen of the top twenty bestsellers for the week of November 22 were on sale for at least part of the period, and the only discounted XBLA title not to chart was poor Voodoo Dice. Amidst the apparently too-good-to-refuse deals, Crazy Taxi made a strong debut in the number six position in its first week of release, and Pac-Man CE DX ate up a top-ten spot in its second week of availability.

As for Xbox Live activity, Black Ops recruits and Modern Warfare 2 veterans (who aren't about to surrender that easily) continue to hog the most bandwidth, followed by the Reach faithful and -- watch out for that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood sneaking up the activity chart! Speaking of no surrender, how about World at War and Call of Duty 4 (remember that one?) hanging around the top twenty most-played Xbox Live games? No wonder Activision wants to better tap its gold mine next year.

Both Top Twenty charts are posted in full after the break.

Xbox Live Activity for the Week of November 22:

Top Xbox Live Titles (based on unique users)

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops
2. Modern Warfare 2
3. Halo: Reach
4. FIFA Soccer 11
5. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
6. Madden NFL 11
7. Halo 3
8. Fallout: New Vegas
9. NBA 2K11
10. Fable III
11. Call of Duty: World at War
12. GTA IV
13. Call of Duty 4
14. Gears of War 2
15. Red Dead Redemption
16. Forza Motorsport 3
17. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
18. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
19. Kinect Adventures!
20. NHL 11

Top Xbox Live Arcade Titles (based on full version purchases)

1. 'Splosion Man*
2. Turtles in Time Re-Shelled*
3. Hasbro Family Game Night* [combined sales of all titles]
4. Trials HD*
5. Portal: Still Alive*
6. Crazy Taxi [new release]
7. Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge*
8. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
9. Greed Corp
10. Pinball FX 2
11. Madden NFL Arcade*
12. Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter*
13. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition*
14. Zombie Apocalypse*
15. Mega Man 10*
16. Magic: The Gathering*
17. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Decade Duels
18. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero
19. Puzzle Quest 2*
20. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game

*On sale during all or part of the week

See Major Nelson's complete report for the Top Indie Games (sold) and Top Games for Windows Live (activity) charts.